Does this look like I'm developing cauliflower ear?

Bruised my left ear, I can feel a small pocket of fluid in there. Should I get it drained?

In the green circle is the small pocket of fluid, but the rest of my ear seems to be swollen as well, but I'm not sure.. what do you guys think?



Here are pictures of both my ears for good comparison:

normal ear


bruised ear

 

do you press it and feel liquid moving around in there. does it feel like a lot of pressure? does it hurt like a motherfucker? it's up to you to get it drained. but that shit doesn't look that bad. just walk in and tell them to drain it. they will tell you to stay off it for like 6 weeks. wear earmuffs.

 

When I press it I feel like theres a bubble of fluid yes.

It doesn't feel like there's a lot of pressure and it doesn't hurt very bad. It just feels a bit sensitive when I put pressure.

6 weeks? Why so long? :icon_neut:icon_sad:

 

I honestly can't see any visible signs of cauli, but if it feels warm and sore it may be developing.

Given it's position, don't worry about it and keep training.

 

I'm glad to hear it doesn't look bad at all from you guys, I was worried. Thanks.

 

looks like your ear got roughed up a bit. if theres fluid between the layers of tissue then it will die and harden in that spot. you can safely drain it yourself, but outer ear infection is really common so if you go to a doctor theyll use proper sterile technique and most likely prescribe prophylactic antibiotics. either way it's nothing to panic about. also worth mentioning that some people believe that once you have a spot of cauliflower on your ear, it's much easier to continue to spread. not sure if there's any real evidence to that though.

 

one of the girls from Judo today after getting her developing cauli fixed, your's doesn't look too bad, they hurt a lot so you kinda know, Ive got a few wee nuggets I didnt notice forming at the time though, pop to the docs and see what they have to say. umless you're in the US and have to pay for that kinda thing.

 

the rest of the world makes us look so god damned stupid

 

Last week I got a referral to the hospital from my GP to get my knee MRI scanned. It's probably going to need reconstruction to repair the knackered ligaments. Total cost to me so far? Nothing. Total cost to me after reconstructive surgery? Nothing. Aside from taxes of course but they're not that bad really.

 

Meh. You'll know when it's cauli. It's feels hot and hurts a lot. It's really tender.

6 weeks is to repair the damaged cartlidge, I guess. I'm not a doc.

 

Either drain it or let it be. I have it on both ears and towards the inside. very hard to keep compression on it so screw it

 

That is definitely the onset of cauliflower ear imo. thats exactly how mine started.

donno what advice to give you really. I really can't even really say with confidence that draining cauliflower ear even does anything. When mine got bad, it would just refill within a matter of hours and in the end, it slow hardened over the course of a year or so. Also, pockets that small can be hard to get much out of anyway.

The one for sure thing that I would do if you care about the appearance of your ears is wear headgear if you don't plan on layin off training. It's annoying as fuck but that's the price you pay.

 

What is your tax rate?

 

yes get it drained. It looks fine now- people wouldn't even notice- but you don't want it becoming permanently sore, or larger

 

kinda hard to explain, basically 0% up to

 

Communist.
But seriously, that's pretty sweet. In Sweden we do pay nominal fees, up to a certain point (about 100 euros). But there can be a lot of red tape, and long waits to get referred to specialists, so you really have to be proactive. I also often get the feeling that the doctors don't care or are less than competent when you go to the ER or a general practitioner.

 

the doctors here can do private work on the side, theyre the same folk and get paid the same either by their private fees or by the state so the standards the same.. Im also not communist at all and vote right every time, which makes me a bit odd for a Scotsman as most of us up here are reds or nats.

 

Yeah, we also have private practitioners, but they are insanely expensive in comparison.

 

It's not hugely noticeable now but if you keep training whilst it feels sore you are pretty much guaranteed permanent ear damage unless you have them drained in future.

I had a sore and hot outer edge on my left ear a few weeks ago. I ignored it as it was not really causing me massive amounts of pain and for as long as I can remember my ears are always sore after frequent training. One night after training it just filled with blood.

Like above, I had the ear drained at A&E which took hours and hours due to waiting times. I had the exact same procedure as the judoka girl above. Two stitched dental rolls. Which SUCKS. They pinch so hard and are really sore. You have to keep them on for 10 days, can't get them wet and can't sleep on them.

Anyway, 10 days later, I had them removed. There was still a small amount of fluid but not as much as before. Eventually, it went down after another week and has hardened/thickened up. It's not noticeable unless you are really looking for it however, I never want to experience it again.

Cauliflower ear sucks so bad. I hate it. After training for 4 years I've only just started to get it. I actually considered giving up training. I've got headgear now though and it's much better. It was hard to get used to but i'll wear it for every session now without fail.

TL;DR - Don't get cauliflower. It's bad. WEAR HEADGEAR.

 

Yeah it hurts pretty bad.